Bennett, Michael D.
Job TitleHonorary Research Fellow
DepartmentJodrell
SectionHonorary Research Fellow
Science Teams:
Joined Kew: 1987
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc (Hons), University College of Wales Aberystwyth, 1965
PhD, University College of Wales Aberystwyth, 1968.
Order of the British Empire
Visiting Professor, School of Plant Sciences, University of Reading (1989-2007)
Honorary Professor, School of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Wales, Cardiff (1989-2003).
Fellow of University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Member of Annals of Botany Company
Chairman of Annals of Botany Company (2006-2008)
University of Oxford Botanic Garden, Board of Visitors (2004-2008)
Role
Research is focused on holistic genomics to improve understanding of the organisation, behaviour and evolution of genomes and their chromosomes.
Research ranged widely over plant karyogenomics since 1963. Work on nuclear DNA and angiosperms has focused on: (1) genome size evolution, (2) reproductive cell biology; (3) higher order genome organisation, and (4) biosystematics. Work at Kew aims to describe and improve understanding of the extent, nature and significance of variation in nuclear DNA amount (DNA C-value and genome size) as fundamental biodiversity characters in flowering plants and other embryophyta. It continues to explore their adaptive significance for plant distribution and behaviour, and to develop the nucleotype hypothesis as a unifying concept, testing its predictive value. The work has produced the ‘Plant DNA C-values database', greatly improving its taxonomic, geographic and phytoformic representation. Other interests are: polyploidy and wide hybrids, and work to develop and use chromosome painting techniques as powerful tools in plant biosystematic research.
Projects
Selected Recent Publications
Whitney, K.D., Baack, E.J., Hamrick, J.L., Godt, M.J.W., Barringer, B.C., Bennett, M.D., Eckert, C.G., Goodwillie, C., Kalisz, S., Leitch, I.J. & Ross-Ibarra, J. (2010). A role for nonadaptive processes in plant genome size evolution? Evolution 64: 2097-2109.
Bennett, M.D., Price, H.J. & Johnston, S. (2008). Anthocyanin inhibits propidium iodide DNA fluorescence in Euphorbia pulcherrima: Implications for genome size variation and flow cytometry. Annals of Botany 101: 777-790.
Gregory, T.R., Nicol, J.A., Tamm, H., Kullman, B., Kullman, K., Leitch, I.J., Murray, B.G., Kapraun, D.F., Greilhuber, J. & Bennett, M.D. (2007). Eukaryotic genome size databases. Nucleic Acids Research 35: (database issue) d332-d338.
Selected Earlier Publications
Bennett, M.D. & Leitch, I.J. (2005). Plant DNA C-values database (Release 4.0, October 2005) http://www.kew.org/cval/homepage.html
Bennett, M.D. & Leitch, I.J. (2005). Nuclear DNA amounts in angiosperms: progress, problems and prospects. Annals of Botany 95: 45-90.
Greilhuber, J., Dolezel, J., Lysak, M.A. & Bennett, M.D. (2005). The origin, evolution and proposed stabilisation of the terms 'genome size' and 'C-value' to describe nuclear DNA contents. Annals of Botany 95: 255-260.
- Bennett, M.D., Leitch, I.J., Price, H.J. & Johnston, S. (2003). Comparison with Caenorhabditis (~100 Mb) and Drosophila (~175 Mb) using flow cytometry show the Arabidopsis genome to be ~157 Mb and thus ~25% larger than the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative estimate of ~125 Mb. Annals of Botany 91: 547-557.
- Bennett, S.T., Kenton, A.Y. & Bennett, M.D. (1992). Genomic in situ hybridization reveals the allopolyploid nature of Milium montianum (Gramineae). Chromosoma 101, 420-424.
- Bennett, M.D. (1977). The time and duration of meiosis. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B, 277, 201-226.
- Bennett, M.D. (1976). DNA amount, latitude and crop plant distribution. Environmental and Experimental Botany 16, 93-108.
- Bennett, M.D. & Smith, J.B. (1976). Nuclear DNA amounts in Angiosperms. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B, 274, 227-274.
